Decisions in the 6th inning will get the scrutiny after this one. The decision to start the inning with Jose Quintana even after he looked like he was wearing down in the 5th. The decision to go with Anthony Bass to try to clean up the inning after the first two batters reached. The Addison Russell decision not to throw to third and net an out on the lead runner.
The end result was two runs for the Cardinals, and that was all they’d need to win this one, as the Cubs’ bats did their vanishing act again. Lots of teams deal with peaks and valleys, but man alive, the Cubs really do go to the extremes on a nearly nightly basis.
I thought Jose Quintana looked sharp in his five innings of work, but on a very hot night, he wore down rapidly at the end of his outing.
The bullpen gave up a few more from there, and with the bats doing nothing, this one wasn’t competitive.